AOTW Feb. 19-25

[felser]

Gato Barbieri - El Pampero (click to buy)

We return to the Montreux Jazz Festival, this time 1971. Gato Barbieri appeared with his then current pianist, Lonnie Liston Smith (fresh from a long association with Pharoah Sanders), and an adhoc rhythm section made up of R&B studio aces Chuck Rainey and Bernard Purdie, and percussionists Sonny Morgan and Nana. Out of this unlikely conglomeration emerged Barbieri's masterpiece, an album whose passionate sax playing is unequaled. It is hard to even describe the magical music from this event, which maps to neither Barbieri's frantic avant-garde leanings of his early years or his smooth jazz work since the mid-70's. It isn't even really similar to his world music recordings on Impulse! the next few years, breathing more fire and emotion than they would, seeming less self-conscious. His few brief years on Flying Dutchman were his golden period, and this was the best of all.

[chris olivarez]

This is the album that first won over to Gato. I loved his wild but not too wild playing. Lonnie Liston Smith was one of my early favorites on piano and I though that Chuck Rainey,Pretty Purdie and Sonny Morgan were one bad assed rhythm section.

[clifford_thornton]

Funny, I was looking at a Milford Graves discography and saw that Sonny Morgan played on all those Montego Joe records, too. Sonny's fine with Milford on their ESP (1015 - the "Nothing" record), and he's also on Kenny Barron's Peruvian Blue (which I like a lot). However, was unaware that he was recorded so much.

[Guest akanalog]

was this the same montreux festival that birthed larry coryell's "fairyland' album?

purdie and rainey do well there also in a much different context.

for some reason this live one is about my least favorite of the barbieri albums i own-

behind fenix, chapter 4 (also live), the third world, under fire and bolivia (well maybe tied with these two).

not to say this isn't a good album felser chose, just i think maybe it's just that it's ALL gato-everyone else seems to be merely and truly backing him up. and they do a great job, but they are all backup, even ll smith.

[Guest akanalog]

let me add this might also be a case of the recording quality because though it is not bad, perhaps it is just hard to heard everything as well as might have been possible (like all the percussive subtleties).